May is Mental Health Awareness month and the first week in May is dedicated to children’s mental health well-being. May 3, 2019 found NAMI San Diego’s Children Youth and Family Liaison, the County of San Diego’s Behavioral Health Department for Children, Youth and Families, along with various community resources organizations coming together to host the 5th annual Children’s Mental Health and Well-Being Celebration.
This is an annual event put on the first week of May (Children’s Mental Health week) to celebrate children and youth recovery within the Children’s System of Care (CSOC). Families and youth engaged in the CSOC were invited to participate in a fun day of mental health education, tacos, games and opportunity drawings!
This year’s event was hosted at the ARTS (A Reason to Survive) Center in National City. Each year, the youth create an art piece that is put back into the community once completed. This year’s art project was “miniature libraries” built by the youth at the ARTS Center and decorated by Celebration attendees. The libraries have been placed in the community; one is located on the campus of San Diego Center for Children and the other has been placed within the NAMI San Diego Resource office at Rady Children’s Hospital.